Young Malaysians should be taught about the effects of corruption at all levels of schooling, so that the scourge can eventually be wiped out.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng offered this suggestion in a presentation to the Parliamentary Select Committee on National Integrity, which held its first public hearing this morning since being set up on Dec 8 last year.

Lim said a strict stance against corruption, which he described as being as critical a sickness as Aids/HIV, should be introduced early in order to "teach the younger generation to isolate and stay away" from such practices.

This was among eight proposals in a letter on improving national integrity, addressed to the 12-member select committee, chaired by Bernard Giluk Dompok, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department.

Commenting on the Integrity Institute of Malaysia, Lim said its scope was limited and should be supplemented by other ways of tackling and rooting out corruption.

He also suggested that the government should set up a Corruption Tribunal to look into cases where the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) has not taken action.

This tribunal could also serve as a forum from which members of the public could obtain information that the ACA is unwilling to divulge.

Review strategies

Other methods of tackling corruption should include a monitoring system and 'integrity committees' in every ministry and department "so that any misuse of power or other unhealthy practice can be quickly identified and prevented".

Lim called for the office of an Ombudsman to be created to tackle "unhealthy practices" that do not fall under the category of corruption, and to improve administrative and corporate practices.

The enactment of a Whistleblowers Act would protect informers in corruption cases as well as provide for rewards where appropriate.

In addition, the authorities should view the Auditor-General's office more seriously by granting it more powers, and by following up on its statements and exposure of abuses.

Similarly, the ACA should be made more independent, given powers to prosecute, and made accountable only to Parliament.

"This is to avoid the perception (that it suffers from) political interference as it is currently under the Prime Minister's Department," he said.

Lim also said premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration should lead by example by "keeping away from the abuse of government machinery and funds for political interests and purposes".

"It was a very frank exchange of views, with no-holds barred, but done in a cordial fashion," said Lim when contacted later.

"They did not object even to my point that there should be a course on fighting corruption in schools. I thought the suggestions (generally) would be accepted, but you never know what will happen at the end of the day," he added.

The committee, whose two opposition members are DAP's Lim Kit Siang and PAS' Pengkalan Chepa parliamentarian Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman, will hold its next public hearing next week at the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council.